36 today

... after 11 long years, I'm finally a square again.

CPO with Blaise

I took Blaise to his first orchestral performance a couple weeks ago. It was an earlier and shorter performance, a part of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra's Rush Hour Series, so it worked well for a young lad.

I had to get there early as the parking was about 4 blocks from the Jack Singer Hall and Blaise would have to walk the distance. Once we found our seats - close to the rear, but right in the centre - we figured it would be a good idea to go use the bathrooms before the concert began after I explained Blaise how moving around and talking was not allowed while the orchestra played.

I propped Blaise up on our stack of jackets as people moved into the seats in front of us, but it still didn't give him the view he wanted. Blaise accepted my offer to sit on my knee and that's where he stayed for most of the concert.

The concert was entitled The Red Violin, a title from the film by the same name. The composer of this suite is an American and so they designed the concert as one from American composers:

• Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man 
• Kernis:  Too Hot Toccata
• Corigliano:  Suite from The Red Violin
• Bernstein:  Three Dance Episodes from On the Town 

Donovan Seidle, a local violinist/composer, was the soloist for The Red Violin and as an encore, he played some ridiculously fast piece that blew Blaise away. I thought Copland's trumpets or Bernstein's English horn or Kernis's double basses would be Blaise's favorites. Instead, the violin captivated him as you can see from his journal entry the next day:

Marathon Training: Day 61/118

Ah! My knees!!

It was a little surreal running by myself for 2 hours (exactly) on treadmill today, alone in a gym. When I reached 21 km at 1:57:13 I just raised my arms for about 3 seconds and then ran the last half km. I did let out a feeble "woo!" too. No celebration, just a 6 minute cool down and then 12 minutes of stretches as I chugged water. I was sipping my electrolyte concoction every 10 minutes during the run, and boy, did that make me thirsty.

I got home after 6 pm and just wanted to sleep. I lay down for 30 minutes then came down to visit with my family. Amber fed me some delicious pasta with chicken and a salad. I took an Advil and iced my knees (they are feeling somewhat better now).

I forgot to mention my weight loss in my last post too. So far, I've burned 11 lbs or so. Easily understood since on today's run alone I burned 1800 calories.

Marathon Training: Day 60/118

Oof. It's been a while since I last updated my blog on my marathon training. Guess why? I've been so tired from running.

Tomorrow I will run 21.5 km and I will try and do it in 2 hours. This is just over a half marathon and 3 km more than I ran last Friday (18.5 km in 1:42)and 5 km more than I ran the Friday before that. How will I feel after the run? Hopefully like I felt last Friday: a little exhilerated and very tired. Hopefully not like 2 Fridays ago after running the 16.5 km (1:31): very nauseated and very tired (after this run I chaperoned a high school banquet and wanted to eat a plate covered in 4 pastas and 4 sauces so badly, but I couldn't because I was so sick). I have found a solution though (I think) - it's below.

After speaking with my sister Salomé on the phone about that bad run, she gave me some rather vital info. Since I'm running on a treadmill, I should be running with an elevation level of 2.0 since it's so much easier than running on the road (which I can't do because of all the ice and snow). She also advised me to do "toe taps," 80 of them each day to strengthen my shins (which have been aching quite a bit).

So the reason I got sick during the 16.5 km, I presume, is the loss of electrolytes. To resolve the issue, I looked up some recipes so I don't have to drink Gatorade. A squeeze of lemon, a pinch of potassium chloride (weird salt), a pinch of kosher salt (sodium chloride), a teaspoon of honey and lots of water. If I sip this every 10 minutes, it keeps the nausea at bay and really keeps me alert. I still follow long runs with some blended berries mixed with whey powder and water to energize.

Sadly, I missed my first 2 days of training. Not because I couldn't do it, but because I willfully chose not to. I missed a 5.5 km run and 60 minutes of cross-training/weight training. I've made up 1 of those kms already, but then a couple days ago I quit a 12 km "quality" run 1 km early at 11 km. This quality run I did on Tuesday was a Yasso 800: "six 800 m 'sprints' with 400m recovery jogs." My sprints were between 13.2-5 km/hr and I was just ill afterwards. So ill that I don't recall drinking my electrolyte drink - maybe I should have...

I've begun to compile a list of supplies I will need for the marathon on May 6:

• vaseline for my lips - they get right dry
• electrolyte drinks in small containers strapped to me
• energy drinks in small containers strapped to me
• 2 ibuprofen tablets (one for before the race, one for 2 hours in)
• a sweat/headband so my eyes don't sting from the sweat
• running shoes, socks, shorts, shirt
• iPod and earbuds (still not sure on this one)

World Premiere of "For What it's Worth, Milk a Goat"

What a great evening! We had 37 people come out the evening of March 3rd to the world premiere of my second feature length documentary. People from various parts of my life (long time friends, cohousing, church, work) and a few strangers who came with some friends filled the seats at 7 pm. Blaise and Acadia came too, watching the movie from a blanket on the floor in front of the first row.



I introduced the film upstairs at the West Hillhurst Community Association before clicking play and turning out the lights. Then, sitting with my own anxious thoughts, Amber joined me and I was able to relax a bit and enjoy the movie. More so, I was able to enjoy watching and hearing others watch the movie. The audience laughed consistently at all the parts I thought were funny, and then some.

Before and after the film, the audience enjoyed some snacks we provided (goat cheeses with baguette, liquorice, M&Ms, veggies, Jones Sodas). I had to veto Amber's wish to provide potato chips. Chips!! at a movie!!

After the 72 minutes were up, the audience generated some good applause. I conducted a Q & A with them and got some great affirmative feedback saying I captured many of the aspects really well. I had anticipated most of the questions: What happened to the goats after you left Guatemala? What is your next film project? What life goals are you working at now? What were you doing in Guatemala? Will I ever keep goats again? There were some more unexpected ones: Tell us your thoughts on pasteurization. How much milk could a goat produce? The supportive and complimentary feedback was really nice to hear from everyone. I recognize that, yes, they are my friends, but I can tell feigned enthusiasm and it wasn't feigned. And really, that makes it worth producing the film.



The best part though, from my seat, I could watch Blaise and Acadia's response to the movie. They laughed with everyone else and sat mesmerized by the goats the entire time. I'm proud of them for staying up 2 hours past their bedtime to share the evening with us. Acadia's thankful words this morning: "Thanks that we got to stay up late last night."

What to do with the film now? Several people have told me they are interested in a downloadable version and so I'll look into that. I may organize a couple more informal viewings here in Calgary or send the film to friends who want to screen it for others. I'm pretty open to whatever.

Last night has injected some filmmaking life into me. After having "For What it's Worth" rejected at all 6 festivals it was submitted to and having no time to dedicate to my current projects, I've mentally just abandoned my film production aspirations. After watching the film again and enjoying the viewers' positive reaction, I'm more hopeful of producing more movies in the future.

Finally, to everyone who contributed to the film as characters, camera operators, as the narration recorder (Angus) and as the soundtrack composer/performer (Justin): Thank you!

Saga: Man vs. Toilet

November: Amber alerted me to a pool of water in our family bathroom (we have 1 1/2 other bathrooms). The leak appeared to come from the toilet and it was a substantial pool of water, so action had to be taken. Amber mopped up the water and I turned off the water supply. Not wanting to put my family on the street, I decided against calling a plumber and chose to take a look at the toilet during the Christmas break - we have 2 other toilets after all.

December: With time on my hands, I watch YouTube videos demonstrating how to dismantle a toilet safely and what parts are typically the cause of a leak. I figure I will be able to spot the broken parts if I take the throne apart first before heading to Rona to buy the replacement parts. I get all the water out of the bowl. I catch the bit of water from the tank as I unhook it. I place the tank on the ground, unbolt the bowl and lay it on the ground too. Disturbing the bowl means I have to replace the wax ring at the base - now a disgusting black sticky mass. I figure this is likely the cause of the leak anyhow... I note the rubber washers holding the tank to the bowl seem a bit iffy too, so I decide to replace them too.

Returning from Rona with new parts in hand, Blaise assists me in reassembling the can. With the water supply reconnected, I flush triumphantly!

Amber informs me of the pool of water by the toilet a few hours later. She mops it up. I shut off the water.

January: It seems clear to me that, as I am still an amateur plumber, I must not have put the wax seal on properly. I inspect the toilet carefully to see if I can spot any other issues. None spotted. I pick up another wax ring, dismantle the entire toilet and swap the recently replaced with an even newer wax ring. After reassembly, I flush and water gushes from the middle of the toilet. Clearly, I've made a mistake in reassembly. I clean up the mess this time. Take the tank off and find that the spongy ring the tank sits on has probably seen better days. I pick up a new one, certain that victory is at hand. Now you can tell by the number of paragraphs that follow that I did not cure the ailment. Water doesn't gush now, but hours later, the telltale pool of water reappears. I mop up and shut off. I need time to think.



A week later I decide that the leak needs to be traced. The pool of water is always in the same place because it is a low spot on the bathroom floor. But where is the water coming from? I choose to set up a timelapse. I sprinkle green Kool-Aid crystals on the ground, put my laptop on the counter, setup my tripod and camera so it can see much of the floor around the toilet, turn on the water and flush. I return a few hours later... nothing. It's toying with me. I know there's a leak, but it's not manifesting itself for me. I flush again.



This time a green line appears along the right bottom rim (as you can see in the YouTube clip below) and spreads like a plague to where the water traditionally pooled. Aha! I've caught it on film. But this doesn't tell me anything I don't know. Water could be dripping off the tank, rolling down the bowl, flowing to this side of the toilet edge before it touches any Kool-Aid. I'm foiled again.




February: Having taken a few weeks to cool down, I am ready to re-engage the monkey on my back: "Hello toilet. You have a purpose. I want to help you fulfill your purpose. Let's work together so I can get on with living." I take a more tactile approach. I turn on the water, flush. Flush again. Then I hug the toilet, touch every washer, bolt, and cool curve. Something is amiss where the water supply connects to the tank. There is moisture. I check a few minutes later and sure enough, there is a water drop. Victory will be mine. I have hope, mingled with doubt based on my previous defeats, but light is shining on this scourge now and I can move forward.

I decide a simple tightening will solve it. I haul out my big plumbers wrench and tighten the nylon bolt, dry the area and wait. Wet again. Hmm. How about more tightening? Worth a try, so I repeat. No success. Well, I may as well look at replacing that part. Another trip to Rona reveals that the components to this piece are not sold separately. Everything up to this point has only cost between $1 and $3. Replacing the ballcock (I know, right?) will cost $18. I'd like to find an alternative solution. I try teflon. It fails. Water is leaking out of the tank through a rubber washer, so maybe if I put a rubber washer underneath and not just above? The guys at Rona tell me that I should just use plumbers grease and stop-leak putty. I buy the putty as I have grease at home. After a big mess and a sad realization that the guys at Rona may not know what they are talking about, I give in. During the frenzied experiments, I ask Amber to help me move the shelf from behind the toilet. As we lift it, it jostles the ceramic lid of the tank, and crack, the corner breaks off. I need to buy some contact cement next time I'm in Rona. I walk into Rona to find a dual-flush toilet on sale for $130. While I'm tempted, I resist the temptation since I would have to find a way to rid myself of my current toilet. I return to the familiar "Sinks / Toilets / Showers / Bathtubs aisle and fetch a ballcock. A quick install later, some flushing tests, check-ins every hour for 6 hours and VOILÀ! Mission accomplished. Toilet loses.

Astrological Surprises

A little over a week ago at a cohousing general meeting, Amber led an activity just to break up the policy discussions. She began by dividing us up by our birthday months - Jan/Feb here, Mar/Apr there, etc... As I joined my March/April groupies, I was shocked at the exclamations of "Oh, are you a Taurus or an Aries?" and "I figured you were an Aries" and "Can you believe I married a Scorpio?" These are professionals all of which have had post-secondary education and yet here they were excitedly divulging their belief in the Zodiac.

By the way, I'm a Pisces. According to astrology.com, today:

 "You’re thinking quite a bit about your future and how things are going, so see if you can get yourself into a quiet corner where you can ponder what comes next. Things are looking up!"

but if I were a Sagittarius:

"Your mind is sharp today, and you should be able to figure out even the weirdest ideas today. Apply yourself to the hard stuff, as you never know when your mental energy is going to wane."

or if I were an Aries:

"You should find that people are easier to get along with today, thanks to some great energy that brings you closer together socially. It’s a good time to build bridges and to check in with distant allies."

None of these counsel morsels are uniquely helpful in anyway. When should I not be thinking about my future or not applying myself or building bridges? What's worse is that they are so self-focused, all about me succeeding and little regard for the other or growing through suffering. Success is defined by good days and bad days.

Seven Epic Journeys [I'd like to make]

Appalachian Trail, USA (on foot)

I've been planning to do this 6 month hike with my son as his rite of passage into manhood since before he was born. I will have to take a spring semester off in 2018, fly Blaise and myself out to Georgia and start walking north 3,507 km along the peaks of the Appalachian Mountains through 14 eastern states. It will certainly be epic.

St. Petersburg, Russia to Istanbul, Turkey to La Rochelle, France (by train)

In this doubly-trans-European train journey, I would explore both the great capitals and some small villages of Eastern Europe. Then make my way from the Bosporus Strait to La Rochelle, France where Louis and Estienne Robichaux set out to settle in Acadia in the mid 17th century. The first leg of the trip would take me through Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and into Turkey. Setting out from Istanbul, I would wind WNW through Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, northern Italy, and along la côte d'azure, through Bordeaux and up to La Rochelle, France.

Western United States of America (by car)

This 10,000 km road trip would take our family through and 10 states and would probably take us 7 weeks to complete. Some highlights:

• Montana: Glacier National Park, American Indian reservations and culture (Blackfoot, Flathead, Salish, Crow) 
• Wyoming: Yellowstone National Park
• Utah: Great Salt Lake, Salt Lake City (Mormon Tabernacle, Olympic Centre)
• Colorado: Dinosaur National Monument, Denver (and it's microbrew pubs)
• New Mexico: Los Alamos (to visit the Manhattan project), Carlsbad Caverns, Artesia (to visit my relatives), Albuquerque (and it's tex-mex food)
• Arizona: Grand Canyon
• California: Joshua Tree National Park, San Diego, Los Angeles, Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks, San Francisco (see friends), Napa Valley (drink wine), 
• Oregon: Forest districts, Portland (visit relatives)
• Washington: Olympic National Park, Seattle, Walla Walla (visit friends)
• Idaho: Moscow (visit friends)

Corners of India (by train)

#11 of my Life Goals is to Ride the Train around India. I would have to somehow define what around India would be, but I think hitting the North, East, South and Western corners of the country would suffice. I would be able to see Mumbai, New Delhi, the cutoff eastern provinces, and the southern tip. The entire trip would be between 10 and 12 thousand kms. I'm told I should ride in 1st class - we'll see what the pocket book says.

Niger River (by river boat)

Beginning at the source of the great Niger River in northwest Africa in Tembakounda, Guinea, I would float northeast into Mali travelling in the rich river basin through the capital city of Bamako and the legendary outpost of Timbuktu. After coming close to the Sahara Desert and maybe even taking a side trip to experience that a bit, I would continue the float south east through Niger (and it's capital Niamey), the board of Benin and into politically unstable Nigeria. The trip would finish in the Niger Delta.

England Coast to Coast (on foot)

A friend of mine, Jon Schmuland, did this 11-15 day hike last year and I followed his journal as he did it. It is surprisingly demanding on the body. The Coast to Coast journey goes through three major natural areas in England: the Lake District National Park, the Yorkshire Dales, and the North York Moors. These areas are reminiscent of vet and author James Herriot and the stage for Wuthering Heights (one of my least favourite reads - maybe I'll see Heathcliff's ghost wandering in the moors...).

Circumference of Australia (on motorbike)

Almost 18,000 km on a motorbike. I'm not sure I want to do this, but I could knock two of my life goals off: #12 Motorbike around Australia and #13 Climb Ayer’s Rock (Uluru) (with permission of the aboriginal people of course). My biggest concern: water and fuel. I'd probably need to pull a little trailer with extra supplies which means I'll need a bigger bike which means I'll need to spend more money. I can picture myself cruising along the coast though - I'll have to grow out my hair for this one.

Blaise's First Sleep Over

As part of our motivating of getting our children to stay dry through the night, we told them that they couldn't go on sleep overs until they began staying dry through the night. Over the past month, both of our children have made remarkable progress (and so have Amber and I in our consistency of getting them up in the night to go pee pee) in staying dry (both day and night).

Blaise was quick to point out that now he is able to go on a sleep over. We asked his best buddy's parents if it was OK if Blaise spent the night there and it was cool, so on Saturday afternoon he went to Anton's house. We got him back all in one piece at midday Sunday. By all accounts, he was a good guest and he had fun too.

On the home front, Amber began pining in the early evening about how she missed Blaise. Acadia was put to bed, but was found sitting and crying on her bed an hour later. She missed Blaise.

Nerdvana 2012

Every year for the past six or seven years, my friend Jasen has organized a little board gaming retreat. We spent a couple nights in a hotel in Canmore surrounded by mountains only to sit facing the middle of a table playing board games for two and a half days. Well, I gazed at the mountains a fair bit actually. That and I ate very, very well.



I ended up playing 17 different games, 15 of which were new to me. The people participating were great sports and everyone was patient as they taught the rules to newcomers.

Kingdom Builder is very quick to learn, never the same set up, and can play 2-4 players. I played it 3 times and I could have played it more too. Another great thing is that it is a relatively short game (30 min).
Troyes is a more complex game with lots of variables. I definitely would like to play it again. Plus, I won my first time playing.
Biblios is a deck building game that ends in an auction. Pretty decent and quick game play. Easy to learn.
Takenoko is a quick, easy to learn game that kids can pick up quite quickly. The goal is to feed your panda by cultivating bamboo in different gardenscapes by ensuring they are irrigated and fertilized.
Hawaii is super fun and reminds me quite a bit of Stone Age
Dvonn is a game from the Gipf Project. You have to collect tiles by jumping over tile spaces and claiming your opponents tiles by stacking on top of them. Very neat strategy game and far more advanced than checkers.
Trajan is another multiple component, have to play 3 times to be able to develop a decent strategy board game. I'm sure it's good, but I don't know if I want to invest much time learning it (again).

Paris Connection is fantastic. It's a bit like Airlines Europe, but simpler, faster and with a twist. Each player gets to build their stock in different colours of trains while at the same time building the value of the train lines in France. Of course if a line gets too valuable, everyone wants the stock. I won at this a couple times.
Vanuatu is perhaps my favourite from the weekend because of the stress and competitive rounds. It didn't take too long to learn, but the challenges weren't anticipated making the game very exciting.
Strasbourg was probably my least favourite, but it's because I wasn't anticipating that the game was so short and rigid in the ways to achieve player goals.
Tichu is a great team card game similar to 200 or Rook. The trio I played with were very patient with me and I managed well enough to win and even call "tichu" on my own.
Bits is a tetris/dominoes kind of game where you get points for joining certain colours in certain patterns (the goals are different every time). Quite fun and I totally dominated!

23 is a new card game that is still only available in Europe (we had to look online for the rules since the game only included Germain rules). It's a terrific game of manipulation and gambling - I rocked this one too.
7 Wonders wasn't new to me but I still enjoyed playing with the heroes expansion. Games are short and vary everytime you play which keeps it fesh.
Octopus's Garden
Gipf is one of the Gipf Project games and I have to say that it is quite addictive and very challenging. It's a tile collecting game. I played it a couple times and since the rules are easily understood I was able to immediately engage some strategy and win. Twice.
Can't Stop is a gambling game where you try to make different combinations of numbers with 4 die. You van quit any time and sit with your scores or risk it all with further rolling. Makes for great excitement and also builds math skills. Blaise really enjoyed this one.

And did we eat! For starters, the hotel gave us a deal on the in house restaurant (Chez François) breakfasts which were both delicious and filling. The kids ate the continental breakfast before we sat down to a late breakfast, so they helped Amber with her plate of food.

Our first evening though, we visited Thai Pagoda which is owned and operated by a Belgian chap who loves beer. The beer menu is beautiful as a result. The service was a little slow, but the food was delicious. I was disappointed with the beer I ordered as I found it tasted a bit soapy. I didn't complain since everyone who tasted it said it tasted fine. Next time I'm not fooling around, I'm getting the Young's Double Chocolate Stout.



Saturday night we went to the Korean BBQ Restaurant and oh did we eat! I don't remember all the food we ate, but the hot pot was superb, especially with the added hot sauces and bean sprouts.



Before leaving Canmore on Sunday, we fattened up at La Belle Patate, the premiere poutine eatery west of Québec. Amber and I shared the large smoked meat poutine and didn't even finish it - so much food.

We look forward to Nerdvana 2013!

Mailbox Treat

I found this in my school mailbox. Someone evidently found this in the photocopier and thought the would return it to me.

Marathon Training: Day 27/118

I've run 105 kms now after almost 4 weeks (tomorrow is a scheduled rest day) and yesterday I ran 1/4 marathon and recovered just fine - no soreness at all.

Salomé has me training 6 days a week:

• Mon - crosstraining with increasing time each week
• Tues - increasingly long runs doing speed intervals or hill training
• Wed - short run
• Thurs - medium runs at a harder pace
• Fri - longest run of the week
• Sat - short run

My comfortable running speed is 10.6 km/hr which is a perfect pace for finishing the marathon in four hours. I've been doing all of my runs after school or during the last block if I have a prep. The gym is almost always empty except for a senior student trying to beef up so he can become a firefighter.

My routine is change, sip a bit of water, run my run on the treadmill while listening to The National's High Violet or Mumford and Son's Sigh No More. When I reach my distance, I hit cool down and get to a walk where I can drink water without spilling it all over myself. Then I add water to my energy drink (whey protein powder and a thawed cube of blended berries) and slurp it up while stretching my calves, quads, glutes, hams, adductors and abductors.

I ran outside today since I had no plans to go to the school and it was an atypical February afternoon: 13°C. I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to keep a good pace without the treadmill so I timed my run and averaged under 6 min/km which is on track. I mapped my distance with Google Maps.

This last week was the first week running with actual running clothes. I picked up some Nike shorts and shirt - light weight, breathable, and they show off my hairy shoulders. My sweat pants and golfing shorts weren't cutting it before.



This is the dime-sized blister I popped a couple days ago, applied some Polysporine and a bandaid and it was as good as new. You can see the other blister-turned-callous above it too.

As far as pain, I haven't had much except for the first 3-4 minutes of running where I can really feel it in my shins.  I had a bit of numbness in my hands, but having spoken to my doctor friend who coaches at my school, he said it was nothing to worry about - blood simply goes where it's needed and my hand's don't really need it when I'm running. He also coached me to run without really swinging my arms since it uses energy unnecessarily - a tough habit to break, plus I look a little gimped. He's a kidney specialist so he urged me to look up an electrolyte recipe online to make my own sugar/salt drink to restore my body chemistry after long runs. I sweat like a dog.

Sleep is precious. I am recognizing that I need much more of it now that I am so much more physically active. And I'm so hungry all the time.

Dictatorship Artifacts

In sorting through stamps from the 1980s and 1990s from dozens of countries, I'm intrigued by the stamps that portray dictatorial leaders. Nearly all of them have been deposed since the stamps' issuance and some have been in the news throughout the Arab Spring (Summer/Fall/Winter). For me these stamps represent a bygone era, like my CCCP or Jugoslavia stamps, but certainly not an era that can not be repeated.



This is Suharto. Despite being a military dictator, he was a pal of the United States and other non-communist countries throughout the Cold War. He ruled Indonesia for 32 years until he resigned in 1998 after international disgrace over the deaths of 100,000 people in East Timor's struggle for independence.





This is the Philippines' former president and his shoe collecting wife Ferdinand E. and Imelda Marcos. F.E. Marcos was president from 1965-1986. During that time, he allegedly embezzled around $5 billion from the country (his cronies also embezzled ridiculous amounts of money too). Victims of torture and family members of the some 1500 executed people under his rule were awarded about $2 billion in reparations, but as the money was in the United States, they didn't get the overwhelming majority since the U.S. wouldn't release the money.





That Imelda was a looker though. Yikes!



This is media darling Muammar Gaddafi, successively the Prime Minister, Chairman of the Revolutionary Command, Secretary General, and Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution of oil rich Libya (42 years of rule). He of course was executed after capture back in October, 2011 by revolutionary forces aided by NATO.



Brotherly Leader is portrayed here as the sun bringing light to his country.



Hafez al-Assad is the father of current embattled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Hafez was the president of Syria for 29 years and was credited with building up the nation's infrastructure, opening it up to international trade, and ensuring women's equal status in the country. On the flip side, he was deeply criticized for the political repression he exerted on the Sunni Muslim population like the Hama massacre where between 10,000 and 40,000 men, women and children were killed by the military in the month of February, 1982. The news today continues to report on Bashar's current attacks, arrests and torture of dissident groups in Syria where over 5000 civilians have been killed in the past year.



I find the stamps to be remarkable demonstrations of how narrow our view of reality is. The pictures represent temporal power that span decades, but even today we see that all of them are dead (I think Imelda might still be alive). Sure, their legacy continues in many respects, but they have nothing now. Was it worth killing and torturing thousands of their own countrymen to maintain strangleholds over their countries? For embezzlement?

Now I need to come clean. Who am I to judge them? Their actions, vile and corrupt, draw easy condemnation. But if we consider the nations that they controlled we may discover that they held them together when democracy could not. Consider Syria for a moment - the majority of the population is not educated and they are Sunni Muslims who can be swayed into fundamental and perhaps violent actions against the minority. The Philippines continue to try to find peace between the Catholics and Muslims while at the same time trying to provide an infrastructure for booming cities and outlying and impoverished villages - not an easy nation to govern. How would Canada respond if oil-rich Alberta tried to secede? Perhaps not as Indonesia did with East Timor, but I can imagine it wouldn't be pretty. Would Libya have been better off allowing foreign oil companies into the country? Nigeria tells us probably not. I can not excuse their actions, but I can not speak negatively about their legacy without offering some sober reflection.

Marathon Training: Day 11/118

So my sisters Saison and Salomé decided to run the half marathon in Vancouver on May 6. They invited me to come along and run with them, but I couldn't stomach training for and then running the half marathon on not being able to cross this off my life goals list:

21. Run a marathon

So, I signed up for the full 42 km Vancouver Marathon. I even bought my plane ticket to seal the deal. Salomé, a trained fitness trainer, designed a training regime for me. It involves a lot of, wait for it, wait for it.... running. I'm not thrilled about the five 20+ km runs and the 32 km run 3 weeks before the marathon that are in the schedule, but hey, she's the pro.

The picture above shows the view that I'll have for the hours I'll spend on the treadmill over the 17 weeks I have to train. I've been diligent in my near daily runs (a little less on the cross training day as I just do some strength exercises at home - push-ups, quad-burners, ab-scorchers, tricep-scalders...). I will have run 721 km in preparation (that's over 17 marathons, broken up over 81 runs).

The first two runs were tough. I was coming off a sedentary Christmas vacation. Since that time, the 4-5 km runs have been a real breeze. I listen to theological podcasts and do math in my head (related to the distance and time, converting from miles to kilometres). I have checked my pulse a few times - the first run peaked at 178 beats/minute, but now it has stabilized to about 160 beats/minute.

Finding time is the real challenge. Those 721 km will take around 72 hours. I have a feeling I'll be driving back to the gym (at my school) in the evenings to get my runs in. So far, I've been able to fit them in during my work day.

The marathon route is quite exciting. I will run west from from Queen Elizabeth Park on 49th Ave through Pacific Spirit Park, the UBC campus, Spanish Banks, Jericho and Kitsilano Beaches, along English Bay, around Stanley Park to the finish line in downtown Vancouver. The sea level elevation is going to be a great advantage as I'm training at over 1000 m above sea level; oxygen shouldn't be a problem.

Man Scouts: Poker & UFC

I blogged about the Man Scouts first event back in November where I was lauded one of the cornholing champs. I missed the second event where everyone stood around watching oil get changed (then enjoying pints at a pub). Last Saturday night nine of us got together to watch UFC Rio and play some poker. The poker buy in was $10 (with half the winnings going to charity).

Sadly, Trinity won (above). This is sad because I don't think he was really trying to win - or he just hustled us from the start. Art (below) was the silent but skilled player (we have to tell ourselves this to make sense of our losses of course).



It was a great time. I learned that I'm not bad, but not great at Texas Hold 'Em and that I will never be a mixed martial arts contender.

Development Permit Application

Behold our latest massing diagram from NORR Architects Planners. It consists of our 6000+ square foot common house (bottom corner), 36 underground parking stalls, 6 one bedroom units, 10 two-bedroom units, 14 three-bedroom units and 6 four-bedroom units. Because of the slope of our acre of land, there are four tiered courtyards spread through the project and a large garden plot at the top of the hill.

The smaller envelope of buildings (fewer building structures) allows for more energy efficient buildings. In pre-permit application meetings, our architects discovered that we would be required to build with steel framing because of new provincial fire codes. The new design also allows for 100% accessibility (for the mobility challenged) to all front doors. You can see the pathways in front of the units and the 2 elevators (darkest sections).

The documents related to this plan (still being developed) form part of our development permit (DP) application to the city of Calgary. The process takes 4-6 months and this DP from the city is needed before we draw up building plans (and get a building permit) and engage a builder.



Jasen is one of our lead design team members. He led us in discussions regarding the site plan and unit floor plans on January 18. I am still very impressed with how our cohousing group functions through consensus decision making.



Chris ScottHanson is our project manager and continues to keep us focused on the important elements of our project.



Can you spot Amber in the pink scarf? This is a pretty exciting time for Dragonfly Cohousing. Our membership grows almost every week and we are nearing our sales goals bit by bit.

Disgrace

A couple weeks ago, this graphic video surfaced of U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was quick to condemn the acts and the United States as a majority expressed disgust. There were some who said it was normal, acceptable and even important that Marines disgrace their enemies - but they were a minority.

I agree with Clinton and the U.S. government in condemning the acts, but I am confused by the fact that they refuse to condemn other acts and even persecute the ones who bring light to far more horrific acts, like this one:



In April 2010, Bradley Manning (allegedly) released a pile of documents and media to Wikileaks including this video from 2007 which features American soldiers in an Apache helicopter firing on unarmed civilians (including journalists and children). No legal action was ever taken against the men who reported lies about the civilians carrying AK-47s and an RPG, who while pointing their guns at a group of 9 men who aren't paying any attention to them say "Light 'em all up. Come on, fire!" and following unprovoked deadly fire say "Oh, yeah, look at those dead bastards. Nice." and as a van comes to pick up the wounded (no weapons in sight) the gunner is pleading "come on, let me engage." They ultimately engage and kill those inside the van and the wounded.  "The official statement on this incident initially listed all adults as insurgents and claimed the US military did not know how the deaths ocurred." (Wikileaks)

So now, with this out in the open, how does the United States Government and military respond? The do not prosecute the murderers. They imprison (in solitary confinement for about a year) Bradley Manning (now aged 24) for releasing sensitive documents.

Well, with my limited power and status as a Canadian citizen, I condemn the actions of the United States government and military. Shame and disgrace surrounds your entire establishment.

FREE BRADLEY MANNING*!

*Bradley Manning was listed as a candidate for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. Both China and Burma are chastised for imprisoning former peace prize winners Liu Xiaobo and Aung San Suu Kyi.